fresh green fair fashion

Archive for September 2010

Hahah! This collage is cute… though a bit misleading. These bags actually require a lot more handwork and the involvement of almost all of the women at some point in the production process. Each bag requires cutting and screen printing of fabric, putting in the lining of the bag (which is made from straw mats and covered with recycled red or gray jersey), sewing on buttons (many, many buttons), and putting on the clasps. The final product is pretty amazing, though. Look for it in our boutique and at our private sales in the US next month (and later, in Paris!)

EJ hanging around Phnom Penh in our brand new romper, designed by Genny Cortinovis.

A special thank you to our photographer, James Grant, and our model, EJ Callahan, for this awesome shoot. Also thank you to Mail Lynn Miller for all the help, and to our new designer, Genny Cortinovis, for everything else. 🙂

Re-arranging the boutique to make room for new items from our Traffick collection

Between re-arranging our Phnom Penh boutique to make room for new pieces, getting our new washing machine set up, and preparing things for our trip to the states, things have been really crazy and exciting at KeoK’jay these last two weeks.

Genny and the women have been working overtime to get all of our samples ready for LA Fashion Week, where we’ll be launching our new collection, Traffick, next month (more info to come!).

The real adventures and laughs and cries of frustrations, however, have come from trying to fill an order we got from Norway for a few sets of screen-printed table cloths, table runners, and tea towels.

It went something like this:

“It needs to be swai (purple) along this edge (*hand waving and showing on the table cloth*), krohom (red) along this edge (*more waving and demonstrating*) and then a little bit of gom leat (space), and then krohom (*more waving and pointing to the picture of the design*) and swai (*more waving*). Okay?”

“Jah. Okay.”

The tea towels and table runners we've been screen printing this week

“Ack, no, not like that. Krohom *waving and pointing*, then swai, then krohom. Okay?”

“Jah. Okay.”

“Nooooo!! Krohom, swai, krohom. Gom leat. Krohom, swai, krohom, Jah?”

“Jah. Okay.”

“Not there! Not swai! Vutha! Come translate!”

This went on for hours.

What was intended to be a small project, involving only two basic prints, two colors, and minimal sewing, has turned into a week-long, labor-intensive endeavor, requiring the full attention of Ravi and Sam Ahn, Genny and myself, and our manager, Vutha. We have now burned through several meters of the expensive goelle fabric due to mis-cutting and mis-printing and mis-just-about-everything.

Why?

Lets call it cultural miscommunication.

Far too late into the process, I realized that none of the women had any idea what a table runner or tea towel even was. They really couldn’t picture what we were trying to make, especially when it involved screen printing several tea towels on one piece of fabric and then cutting it afterwards. So then I had to explain that in the US and Europe, people put cloth on their tables before they eat. And the women were like “why?” and I was like, “I really don’t know.”

I’ve never thought to question the tradition of putting decorative cloth on a table before a meal, but now that I’m in Cambodia, it seems like a funny thing to take for granted. Why cloth on a table? To spill wine on and feel bad about it?